Whiting Pollock, Glassen, or Coal Fish are taken in great numbers with Spilliard lines, in the latter end of April and May, at which time they also afford capital sport fishing for with a rod off the rocks in deep water. You cast for them as for salmon. The bait generally used for this purpose is a small fresh water Eel, about 6 inches long, with a hook the size of a salmon hook put in at his mouth, and run down through him let out at the bottom of his stomach, his nose is then tied fast to the snouding as far up from the hook as to stretch him along his natural length. When you cast him out with your rod, lie makes a splash in the water that would frighten a salmon into fits, however, the Whiting Pollock has not such delicate nerves, and if he is not gorged with fry, there is no doubt but that he will appropriate the bait to his own use as soon as he sees it, and make a desperate fight before he will
6!
allow himself to be taken. They are very game fish in the water, hut scarcely worth cooking. They swim in a large ball, and when, you take a large one, you may be certain of good sport afterwards. I have often seen them caught as fast as they could be taken in, but seldom on the East Coast, weighing more than four pound; but on the West I have seen canoes full of them, coming from Achill, averaging from fifteen to twenty pound.
The Mullet come in the Summer months, and are some-times taken in great numbers in seine nets, when the water is a little discoloured, along shore, so that they do not see the net till it presses on them ; but in fine weather, and clear water, a large shoal of them will jump out over the corkline of the net one after another, to the great annoyance and disappointment of the Fishermen, who see them perform their feats without being able to prevent them. They are also taken at night in drift nets (of which a full account will be given further on). These are the only means by which they are taken at sea, but when they come up the rivers from the shore, they are caught with flies, rod fishing, the same as for salmon. They take salmon flies, but the most killing fly for them is an imitation sand eel tied on a large white trout hook, they do not take well until at flood tide: as as the tide begins to run up the rivers that they are in, they begin to work and take the fly fast. Where is a good shoal of them in the tidal rivers in the West of Ireland, you will see the water broken all round with play. They are considered by some a very good fish when fresh from the sea, but when taken away from
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the rivers, they are very inspired. They are a strong fish in the water, and give capital play on the rod. I have seldom seen them above 4 lb. weight killed by a rod.
Sea Bream affords very good rod fishing off rocks in deep water. It is a deep fish, shaped like the fresh water Bream, but much redder in the colour; it is very strong in the water, and will give a great deal of play before he is taken, In fact, to fish for him with a salmon rod and salmon tackle he would take quite as long to kill as a salmon of a quarter heavier weight, but the rod and all the tackle employed for this fishing is so strong, that if you do not cut through the fish's mouth with the hook, you can pull him out as soon as he has swallowed the bait. Not withstanding the strong tackle used in the fishery, when a large Bream is hooked, he will carry away the whole line, and the rod along with it, if the Fisherman has not a good hold of it. This, when it happens, may be partly attributed to his want of knowledge how to play a strong fish. Though a very game fish, the Bream is not esteemed at table. The best bait for him is the inside good red table crab, tied with a thread round the hook, and kept steady with a float in the water, as the bait is very easy washed off. They are caught all through the Summer months, at which time they are in their prime, when most other fish are out of season.
The Noud, as they are most commonly called by the Fisher-men are taken with reel lines sometimes in immense numbers,
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as they take the bait as fast as you can throw it to them, the only delay in this fishing is taking them off the hooks, as they have spiky fins which they point out as soon as they leave the water, and if you take them in your hand, you are sure to be severely wounded by them, but as the tackle is pretty strong by which they are caught, the Fishermen take a short hold of the snouding, and swing them into the boat, striking them against the boat's sides, which generally breaks the piece by which the hook holds them, and they fall into the bottom of the boat. They make no fight, but come on board as if accustomed to it, as fast as you can haul them in. The bait used for them is a bit cut off one of themselves, about the size of a horse leech, generally the latest arrival on board meets with this delicate attention ; he is laid on the gunwale of the boat by one of the Fishermen, and the pieces cut off towards his tail. There is nothing like keeping fresh bait on your hooks for both Mackerel and Gurnet. When fishing for the latter, you go too slowly through the water for Mackerel. I have been in a boat becalmed off the mountain foot in the county Down, when we let the lines fall quickly to the bottom we saw the Gurnet follow them up, and before they would let the bait out of the water, they always took it. They are fished for with reel lines as used for Mackerel.
The Dog Fish are taken both on Spillard lines, and in trawl nets; they do not form any distinct fishery, but where they are taken in great numbers, as often happens, the Fisher-men have to put Dog Fish Hooks to their lines, as they will bite through the snouding of a Cod hook, and go off with the bait hook in them. The hook prepared for them is attached to a strong link of iron wire, about a foot long; there is a hold
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in the shank of the hook through which the wire is put, and welded back, having an eye on it for the hook to play in; at the end of the wire next the line, there is another eye where the line is made fast. The Dog Fish is a rich, coarse fish, much liked by the fishermen for their own use ; when cured dried, a great deal of valuable oil is extracted from them, which is found a most healing application to put to wounds, cuts, &c., it is superior to Friar's Balsam, and has been found a most valuable cure for all cuts in a hunter's stable, as it keeps off proud flesh, and produces a new skin in a very short time. It is applied to the wound with a feather. They will take any bait used in line fishing, these fish are exactly the shape of the white Shark, and from their voracious appetite are thought to be a species of that fish.
The Sand Eels which are a delicious fish and considered a great delicacy, are found in most sands, out of which they are dug with a three pronged fork, such as that used for digging slugs for bait. They are seldom found more than three or four inches long in the sands on the East Coast, there is a bank at the mouth of the Malahide river, called Muldowney's where they are of a very large size, some of them nearly a foot long; this bank is composed of a shifting gravel; they are a very good bait for White Trout and Mullet, and generally taken during the three Summer months. Whiting, Flounders, Rock Codling, Conger Eels, Lam-preys, and Bed Gurnard, although some of them are very good fish, do not form any distinct fishery, as they seldom swim in balls, or shoals, but are taken either while fishing with lines for some of the fish I have before described, or by trawlers. The Rock Cod are in good season early in Summer,
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when the other Cod are out of season. The only difference between them is, the Rook Cod being of a very dark brown color on the back, and along the sides. I should have added the Skate, or Ray, to this class of fish. Independent of their being caught by lines, and in the trawl nets, some of the large ones are often harpooned with a small spear while basking in the sun on the surface of the sea in July and August.
The Sturgeon are not at all numerous on the Irish Coast, the take of one of them you see occasionally noticed in a provincial journal as a remarkable event, they are generally caught along the East Coast of Ireland in the shoal sandy Bays, where they are often left dry by the tide, and in trawl nets off those bays. I have seen some very fine ones, three of which were caught in Dundalk Bay, off Lurgan green, where several have been taken at different periods; and one other which was taken on the velvet sands, near Baldoyle. The Sturgeon in Ireland is a Royal fish, and each of these was sent up to Dublin Castle, the one last taken in Dundalk bay was forwarded to Buckingham Palace, as it was in remarkably good condition. I extract the following account of the Sturgeon from Buffon page 446. "The "Sturgeon in general form resembles the fresh water Pike; "the nose is long, the mouth is situated beneath, being "small and without jaw bones or teeth. But though is is so "harmless and ill provided for war body is formidable "enough to appearance. It is long, pentagonal, and covered "with five rows of large bony knobs, one row on the back "and two on each side, and a number of fins to give it ex "pedition. Of this fish there are three kinks; the common "Sturgeon the Carrier Sturgeon, and the Huso or Isinglass
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"fish. The largest Sturgeon we have heard of, caught in Great "Britain was a fish taken in the river Eske, where they are "most frequently found, which weighed four hundred and "sixty pounds, an enormous size to those who have only "seen our fresh water fishes. As the Sturgeon is a harm"less fish and no way voracious, it is never caught by a bait "in the ordinary manner of fishing, but in nets. From the "quality of floundering at the bottom it has received its "name; which comes from the German verb (Storren) signi"fying to wallow in the mud; that it lives upon no large "animals is obvious to all those who cut it open, where "nothing is found in its stomach but a kind of slimy sub"stance which induces some to think that it lives only on "water and air. The usual time for Sturgeon to come up "the rivers to deposit their spawn, is about the beginning of "summer, when the fishermen on all great rivers make a "regular preparation for its reception. At Pillau, the shores "are particularly marked out into districts, which are allotted "to companies of fishermen, some of which are rented for "about three hundred pounds a year. The nets in which "the Sturgeon are caught, are made of small cord and placed "across the mouth of the river, but in such a manner that "whether the tide ebbs or flows the pouch of the net goes "with the stream. The Sturgeon thus caught while in the "water is one of the strongest fishes that swims, and often "breaks the net to pieces that encloses it; but the instant "it is raised with its head above water, all its activity ceases, "it is then a lifeless, spiritless lump, and suffers itself to be "tamely dragged on shore."
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These are shell fish; still as they form a part of the sea fishery, I give an account here or the manner in which they are caught, especially as of late years Lobsters have been imported in great numbers from the Coast of Norway, and I am certain that fishing for them would form a considerable addi- tion to the profits of a Fishing Company. Lobsters and Crabs are often taken in considerable numbers in the clefts of the rocks, near low water mark, where they have been left by the tide. They are taken out of the clefts and holes in the rocks with a gaff, which has a small handle made of ash about 5 feet long, and two inches and-a-half in circumference, to the end of which is attached with a socket, a light piece of iron about eighteen inches long, and as thick as the shank of a tobacco pipe, with a hook formed at the end of it; fishing for them in deep water, they are caught in a Lobster pot, made of long briers worked into a basket of precisely the same shape, and on the same principle as the circular wire, mouse, or rat trap. These are used all along the Irish Coast, they are baited inside with pieces of fish cut up into small squares, and hung along the inside of the Lobster Pot. They are always set in rocky ground; the Fishermen are greatly annoyed by the Conger Eels taking the bait out of them, and afterwards making their escape, which they do by getting the end of their tail out between the briers, and dragging their body after it. I have several times seen the Lobster pots taken up off Clogher Head, when the Fishermen showed me a small opening between the rods with some slime attached to it, he immediately said that the Lobster pot had been robbed by a Conger Eel, who made his escape through the hole which hardly admitted of one's finger. The English Lobster pots are made of four or
more hoops tied at equal distances, on spars about four feet long, there is a strong netting put over this, with two entrances into it; one at either end. I think this a much better plan, as it is impossible for any thing to get through the netting, and the fish can see the bait much easier. The entrances to it are formed on the same principle as those leading into the Lobster pots made of briars. The annexed sketch shows the principle of the English and Irish Lobster pots,
1. The Irish Lobster Pot.
2. The English Lobster Trap.
There are great quantities of Lobsters in Clew Bay, and at Achill Island, but the fishery for them is quite neglected; unless some gentleman gets a set of Lobster Pots made for his own use, and pays a man for baiting and setting them. Some years ago when the fishery was attended to, they were sold so cheap as two shillings, or one shilling and sixpence per dozen for large female Lobsters. The Fishermen could not get sale for male Lobsters, unless there was a great scarcity ; therefore they had cither to use them themselves, or cut them up for bait. There is no doubt that immense numbers of them might be obtained by supplying the Fishermen of the Islands and creeks along the shores of the West Coast with Lobster Pots and lines for them. To these lines are attached large corks, which mark the place where the Lobster Pots are set, and it is by these lines that they are pulled up from the bottom of the sea. There are weights placed in them to sink them, and keep them steady. The Lobsters might be kept alive for any length of time, by placing them in small ponds of salt water, until an opportunity offered of sending them to market, or forwarding them to a company's store, where there should be a regular pond for them, and where they might be fattened upon the offal of coarse fish, or the fish themselves, then they might be sent round to the Dublin or Liverpool markets. There are plenty of ponds naturally formed where they could
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be left and fed until they were wanted, or in case of not getting a pond, some sheltered place might be fenced with a strongly made and well tarred net, or even a chamber of net work, squared out with light spars might be sunk, and moored in any harbour for the purpose of keeping them alive in. The male is known from the female, by the former having a coarse and fibrous covering from the legs down to the tail, while the latter is perfectly smooth in the same part, either from the coral or pea being there, or its having been there while it was young.
Buffon, page 466.
"The Lobster is an animal of so extraordinary a form, that "those who first see it are apt to mistake the head for the tail; "but it is soon discovered that the animal moves with its "claws foremost; and that the part that plays within itself by "joints, like a coat of armour is the tail. The mouth like that "of insects open the long way of the body, not crossways as "with man and the higher race of animals, it is furnished with "two teeth for the communication of its food: but as these "are not sufficient, it has three more in the stomach, one on "each side, and the other below. Between the two teeth there "is a fleshy substance like a tongue. The intestines consist of "one long bowel, which reaches from the mouth to the vent "but what this animal differs in from all others is, that the "spinal marrow is in the breast bone. It is furnished with "two long feelers or horns that issue on each side of the head, "that seem to correct the dimness of its sight, and apprize "the animal of its danger or its prey. The tail, or that "jointed instrument at the other end, is the grand instrument "of motion; and with this it can raise itself in the water. "Under this we usually see lodged the spawn in great "abundance; every pea adhering to the next by a very fine
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"filament which is scarcely perceptible; every Lobster is an "hermaphrodite, and is supposed to be self impregnated. The "ovary or place where the spawn is first produced, is back"wards towards the tail, where a red substance is always "found, which is nothing but a cluster of pea's, that are yet "too small for exclusion. From this receptacle these go "through canals that open on each side at the jointures of the "shell at the belly, and through these passages the peas de"scend to be excluded, and placed under the tail, where the "animal preserves them from danger for sometime, until they "come to maturity; when being furnished with limbs and "motion they drop off into the water. When the young "Lobster leaves the parent, they immediately look for shelter "in the smallest clefts of the rocks, and in such like crevices "in the bottom of the sea, where the entrance is but small, and "the opening can be easily defended. Then without seeming "to take any food, they grow larger in a few weeks time, from "the mere accidental substances that the water washes to their "retreat, by this time they acquire a hard, firm shell, which "furnishes them with both offensive and defensive armour. "They then begin to issue from their fortresses, and boldly "creeping along the bottom in hopes of meeting with more "diminutive plunder. The spawn of fish, the smaller animals "of their own kind, but chiefly the worms that keep at the "bottom of the sea, supply them with plenty. They keep in "this manner close to the rocks, and busily employed in "scratching up the sand with their claws in search of worms, "surprising such heedless animals as fall within their grasp, "thus, they have little to apprehend except from each other; "for in them as among fishes, the larger are the most fomid- "able of all enemies to the small. "But this life of abundance and security is soon to have a "most dangerous interruption, for the body of the Lobster "still continuing to increase, while its shell remains unalterably
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"the same, the animal becomes too large for its habitation, "and imprisoned within the crust that has naturally gathered "round it, then comes on a necessity of getting free. "The young of this kind, therefore, that grow faster, as I "am assured by the Fishermen, change their shells oftener "than the old who come to their full growth, and who remain "in the same shell often for two years together. In general, "however, all these animals change their thin shell once a year, "and this is not only a most painful operation, but subjects "them to every danger.
"Just before casting its shell, it throws itself upon its back, "striking its claws against each other, and every limb seems "to tremble; its feelers are agitated, and the whole body is in "violent motion : it then swells itself in an unusual manner "and at last the shell is seen beginning to divide at its join"tures. It also seems turned inside out, and its stomach "comes away with its shell. After this by the same operation, "it disengages itself of the claws which burst at the joints, the "animal with a tremulous motion casting them off as at man "would kick off a boot that was too big for him. Thus, in a "short time this wonderful creature finds itself at liberty; but "in so weak a state that it continues for several hours motion"less; indeed so violent is the operation, that many often die "under it, and those that survive are in such a weak state for "some time, that they neither take food, nor venture from "their retreats; immediately after this change, they have not "only the softness but the timidity of a worm; every animal "of the deep is then a powerful enemy, which they can neither "escape nor oppose; and this in fact is the time when the "Dog Fish, the God, and the "Ray devour them in hundreds "But this state of defenceless imbecility continues for a very "short time. The animal in less than two days is seen to "have the skin that covered its body grown almost as hard as "before; its appetite is seen to increase; and strange to
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"behold, the first object that tempts its gluttony, Is its own "stomach, which It has so lately disengaged from. This it "devours with great eagerness, and sometime after eats its "former shell. In about eight hours in proportion to the ani- "mals health and strength, the new shell is perfectly formed, "and as hard as that which was but just thrown aside. When "the Lobster is equipped in his new shell, it then appears "how much it has grown in the space of a very few days, the "dimensions of the old shell being compared with those of "the new, it will be found that the creature has increased "above a third in its size; and like a boy that has out grown "his clothes ; It seems wonderful how the deserted shell was "able to contain so great an animal as entirely fills up the new. "The creature thus furnished, not only with a complete new "covering, but a greater share of strength and courage, ven"turing more boldly among the animals at the bottom, and not "a week passes, that in its combats It does not suffer some mu"tilation. A joint or even a whole claw is sometimes snapped "off in these encounters. At certain seasons of the year, these "animals never meet each other without an engagement.
"In these, to come off with the loss of a leg, or a claw, is "considered no great calamity, the victor carries off the spoil "to feast upon at leisure, while the other retires from the "defeat to wait for a thorough repair. This repair is not long "in procuring. From the place where the joint of the claw was "cut away is seen in a most extraordinary manner to burgeon "out the beginning of a new claw. This if observed at first is "small and tender, but in the space of three weeks, to be almost "as large and powerful as the old one, I say almost as large, as "it never arrives to the full size, and this is the reason we "generally find the claws of the Lobster of unequal rnagni-"tude." Crabs are caught in the same manner as Lobsters.
The Cray fish are always taken in trawl nets, they are like the Lobster In form, but a smaller and much more delicate
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fish, it would appear from their being taken in the trawl nets that they generally stay upon the sand banks, and their form does not seem adapted to travelling over rocky ground. They are taken in great numbers, by the trawlers, in the summer months. Muscles, Scollops, Cockles, Wilks, and Razor fish are caught along the coast in great numbers in various places. The Muscles form large beds which are often left dry by the tide, where they are picked up in great numbers, either for food or bait; they are a favorite bait for Haddock during the winter and spring, but in the summer they are too soft to stay on a hook.
Scollops are dredged for in the same manner as oysters are, they are also taken in great numbers in the oyster dredges; they are one of the best baits on the coast for round fish, and always firm enough to keep well on the hook they are used for sauce, and an excellent soup is made with them.
Buffon, page 448.
"The Scollop is particularly remarkable for its method of "moving forward upon land, or swimming upon the surface "of the water. When this animal finds itself deserted by the "tide it makes very remarkable efforts to regain the water, "moving towards the sea in a most singular manner. It first "gapes its shell as widely as it can, the edges being often an "inch asunder; then it shuts them with a jerk, and by this "the whole animal rises five or six inches from the ground "It thus tumbles any how forward, and then renews the ope- "ration, until it has attained its journeys end. When in the "water it is capable of supporting itself on the surface and "there opening and shutting its shells, it tumbles over and "over, and makes its way with gome celerity."
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The Razor Fish are very numerous on different sandy shores, and a very favourite dish with persons residing along the coast, they are chiefly taken at the edge of low water, especially during spring tides, in the following manner :-A small wooden frame with a handle about six feet long, made like a large hay rake without teeth, is pushed along the shore, when it passes over the place where the razor fish are in the sand, they will bubble up some water through the hole in which they went down, which was till then invisible. A small harpoon with two broad sharp barbs made for this purpose is thrust down and goes lengthwise through the razor fish, the harpoon is then turned half round, the barbs catching the edges of the shell, which is drawn up to the surface by this means, the handle of the harpoon which is loose is then taken off and the fish pulled off at that end. This harpoon is about two feet and-a-half long, and three-quarters of an inch in circumference.
Buffon, page 484.
"Upon the ebb of the tide the fish holes are seen in the "sand through which the animal breaths or imbibes the salt "water, the Fishermen use the following method for enticing "the razor up from the depth of his retreat-they sprinkle a "little salt upon the hole, this melting no sooner "reaches the razor below, than it rises Instantly straight "upwards, and shows about half its length above the surface. "This appearance however, is instantaneous, and if the fisher "does not seize the opportunity, the razor buries itself with "great ease to its former depth, it will not rise a second time "and the fisher has to dig it out from two feet below the "surface, or give it up."
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Cockles are also used both for food and bait, they are caught by removing the sand three or four inches deep, where you turn them up out of it, they lay on the surface of the sand while the tide is over them, but just as it is ebbing off you may see them put down the fishey part into the sand, and draw down the shell after them.
The Sugarloons are large shell fish, with a black shell like a muscle, and both shells formed round and full like the lower shell of an oyster, they are caught in mud banks that the tide has been over, by persons who go out for that purpose, and seeing the hole in the mud (where they have gone down, from five inches to a foot deep) they put down their hands to take them up; they are used both as food and bait.
There are great numbers both of feeding and breeding beds of oysters on this coast, some along the West Coast are of very great extent, and the Oysters taken from them have a particularly fine flavor, and bring a very fine price in Dublin. Clew Bay abounds with Oysters, where they are taken in large quantities, (considering the wretched small dredges with which they are fished for,) out of an open boat, rowed by two men, and a third holding the dredge rope. They seldom catch more than a thousand in the day, as they find it difficult to dispose of them, even at a moderate price, of from five pence to eight pence a hundred, although when sent to Dub lin they fetch the Highest price, that is, from three-and-six pence to five shillings a hundred, but the expense of sending them up by carriers runs away with any profit that the Fisher- men would derive from a good market, and they now seldom fish for them they are bespoke. The fishery for Oysters
in Clew Bay is not private property, therefore a company forming an Oyster bed for which there are great facilities, would stock it in a very short time, by using large dredges, such as those used for deep sea Oysters off Howth and Dublin Bay, then they could send a cargo of Oysters round by sea to the Dublin market. And as the Scollops are taken in the same dredge, they could easily stock a bait bank with Scollops, thus the tender to the large, fishing boats could be kept most profitably employed at this work when not required on the fishing ground. It is merely in the shoal water among the islands that the Oysters have been as yet taken, therefore, there is no doubt but that immense quantities must exist between Clare Island and the shore. I here give plans of the different Oyster dredges used along the East and West Coasts. The deep sea Oysters caught off Howth are very large and like all salt-water Oysters, coarse tasted. That delicacy of flavor so peculiar to the native Oysters taken at the mouth of the Thames, is imparted by a flow of fresh water coming over them.
l. English dredge with double sword.
2. Irish dredge with single sword.
3. Large size do. with beam lashed across, to prevent stones &c., entering.
The chief breeding bed of Oysters on the East Coast is at Arklow, from whence they are taken at a year and two-year old, and laid upon the feeding beds at Malahide and Carling- ford. The bed at Malahide is dry at the last ebb, and the Oysters are picked off by the persons employed by the lessee of the bed, and sent to market, this bed has the benefit of a fresh water stream running over it. The Oysters are pretty
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good at three years old-they are not in their prime until five years old, but are generally all sold off the feeding bed at four. They are delivered at Malahide from Arklow for about two shillings a thousand, and are sold at four or five years old for three and sixpence and four shillings a hundred. These beds are taken great care of, they are the property of Lord Talbot de Malahide, and are let on lease at one hundred a year from them. The lessee has a profit of a hundred and fifty or two hundred a-year for them. The Carlingford Oyster beds are very much neglected, and some of the Fishermen dredge up the Oysters in a couple of months after they have been laid on the beds, and during the summer time when they are scarcely eatable they are hawked about Rosstrevor and Warrenpoint, for five-pence a hundred, scarcely the size of a half-crown, and not worth opening. Oysters are considered only in season during the months that have the letter R in them, which is easily accounted for, as they begin to get full of a liquid like milk, in the latter end of April, and spawn in June, towards the end of July they have a number of small Oysters just formed in a very delicate shell or scale hanging round their shell at the back part of it. After they nave spawned they are very soft and aqueous, but recover quickly in July and August, and are again fit to use in Sep- tember. The Fishermen say that the Oysters which have been moved to a feeding bed, never spawn there, although they fatten well. I have seen a very small Oyster hanging to the shell of an Oyster two years old, so I suppose they must either spawn at that age, or that they were weak Oysters spawned along with them, and had not separated from them The male Oyster is known by having a black skirt fringe, or fin round the fish opened. The men opening them at the Red Bank Barren Oyster House, Duke-street, Dublin.can tell the male Oysters by the shell before it is opened. There are numerous situations along the coast, where Oyster
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beds might be very profitably made. Whenever it is a gravelly bottom and sheltered from the sea breaking into the Oyster bed, it answers well, but if a freshwater stream runs over it, It is all the better as the Oysters always fatten much quicker In such a situation from the quantity of animalcule which the open shell catches. Sometimes small pebbles are rolled into the shell which prevent their closing, and the crabs very soon eat the fish out of them, in beds where they are left dry at low water. The Sea Pic or Oyster Plover will pick the fish out of them, when they cannot close the shell from a pebble having got into it, most likely by the action of the stream, this has given rise to a belief among the Fishermen, that the Sea Pie and Crab place the stone in the Oyster shell for the purpose of eating out the fish, which is possible. When left dry at low water the Oyster may be seen squirting all the water out of their shells, to be ready to replenish with the flood tide.
Buffon, page 487.
"Oysters usually cast their spawn in May, it at first ap"pears like drops of candle grease, and sticks to any hard "substance it falls upon, these are covered with a shell in "two or three days, and in three years the fish is large "enough to be brought to market."
I shall now conclude this work with a description of a drift net and a seine net. The drift net will be found very useful off a rocky shore or in deep water, it is on the same principle as the herring net, with large meshes, the mesh being an inchand-a-half or two inches from knot to knot. It is generally set in the evening across the tide and taken up in the morning, it has a good strong back rope, with buoys or corks attached
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to it every two fathom; corks are much better than buoys for this net, as the corks are flat without any wind draft, and the net will not be so liable to drift on shore in a strong gale of wind, as it may be set in a situation where in stormy wea ther it could not be taken in for several days. The net is generally thirty fathoms long, and made to suit the depth of water, off the coast or headland where it is intended to be used. It is always set across the tide and left without any mooring to drift backwards and forwards with the tide. The fish are meshed in this net as in the herring net; trying to force their way through it, they get the head in past the gills and are held until taken out by the Fishermen. The fish generally taken in this net are Salmon, Whiting, Pollock, Colligan, and Mullet, and in some places in very great num bers.
The seine net is used on a shallow sandy beach at low water, it was formerly the only way in which Salmon was taken, by dragging the rivers with this net between the last of ebb and the first of flood; these nets are generally from fifty to eighty fathom long, and about a fathom deep at each end, increasing to a fathom and-a-half in the centre. The mesh of this net must be by Act of Parliament, two-and-a-half- inches from knot to knot; it is mounted with two net ropes, one along the top, and the other along the bottom of the net, the top rope is well furnished with corks strung on at a distance of two or three feet apart, the top line must be well floated, otherwise, when the net is being hauled in, it will sink, and the fish swim over it. The foot rope requires to be leaded with flat lead, such as is used in a cistern pipe, beat round the rope, at inter vals of 2 or 3 feet; these leads should be half-a-pound weight each, or something heavier, sufficient to keep the foot rope from floating when it is being hauled in. There should be a small spar about six feet long, made fast to the two ropes at each end of the net. At the end of the spar made fast to the
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foot rope, there should be a piece of metal attached to this piece of wood about a stone weight, which in hauling in the net is of great use in keeping the lead line steady on the ground. This net is generally shot from a boat, there is a rope attached to it that lets out the boat into six feet of water. It is then rowed along the shore with a little inclination out to seaward. There is a person in the stern of the boat in charge of the net who casts it out, as the boat is rowed on with the lead rope under, until it is all out ; when the boat first goes out, one end of the rope attached to that end of the net is held by the person on shore, and when the boat returns with the rope attached to the other end of the net it is hauled in by these two ropes, until the cork line, and the lead line come in ; then the net is hauled in by the two net ropes, leaving the net outside the ropes, and the net ought to be coiled away in the boats stern as fast as it comes in, to save time for the next haul. You should keep the lead line always hauled in a little in advance of the cork line, which forms the net into a bag that holds the fish well, but if you pull the cork line first, it will drag the lead line over the fish, thereby letting them out of the net, the two ends of the net should be hauled in close to each other, so as to form a long narrow purse which is the only way to prevent mullet jumping out of the net if they are in it. These nets are often drawn by men going out to their chins in the water and haul- ing the net after them, and sometimes by a horse harnessed to the spar that I mentioned as attached to each end of the net, but a small boat can go out in any weather that either the horse or man can go in. There should be a small deck to ship over the stern sheets of the boat for the net to be coiled upon.
The expense of this net is from £5 to £10 according to the size. Fishing with it affords good sport of a summer's evening, and if near the mouth of any fresh water stream you are certain of getting occasionally a good take of White Trout. The fish generally caught in a seine net, are White Trout, Mullet,
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Plaice, Flounders, Small Turbot, and Ray. This net is used only at low water, and at night, as the fish see it In the day time, and swim away from it; when there is much phosphoric light in the water, which is easily seen, you cannot expect to kill fish. One word in conclusion upon the subject of fishing nets, and lines, They should always be dried as soon as possible after fishing, and then stored in a dry place, and before being laid by for a season, they should be washed well in fresh water. Before they are put into store when new, and before used, all their gear should be barked, which is done by boiling a requisite quantity of oak bark in a boiler, which, will hold the nets that you require to be barked, where they should be boiled for ten minutes, then taken out and dried. After this process they will keep serviceable twice as long as they would, had they not been barked. If you have to renew these expensive stores often, they will run away with the profits of the fishery they are employed in. Damp nets or lines will get mildewed and rotten. The St. Ives and Penzance men bark their nets several times in the season.
HALIBUT
The Halibut is the largest class of flat fish caught with the hook, it is taken in considerable numbers in Clew Bay, and along the West Coast. The Fishermen eat them but they are a watery soft fish, and cannot be saved salted, as they dissolve into water after they have been a short time taken. Although I have heard of them being sent from the West Indies packed in barrels as a delicacy, but I fancy they must be in better condition or a different species of fish. Some of them are of the immense size of four hundred dred weight. Although an inferior fish for the the Fishermen consider themselves fortunate, when they get any of them on their lines, as they supply them with a large quantity of excellent bait, they always cut them up for
that purpose. In taking them on board as the Cod line cannot support such a weight as they are, the Fishermen make fast a light line to a gaff which they fasten in the fish, they then hoist them on board by the jib tackle I can-not find Halibut mentioned either in Buffon or Goldsmith, I find both these works give a very unsatisfactory account of fish in general, I was surprised not to find the Sun. fish or, basking Shark mentioned in either of them, and I find that one is a verbatim copy of the other with respect to the fish that they give any account of.
The selection of the point at which to form a Fishing Station requires a great deal of judgment, and it will be found that the nearest market town, whenever it can be made available will be the proper place ; otherwise, if the Station is formed at a distance from the market the expense, of the carriage of provisions to the station, and fish to the market will run away with a great deal of the profits. Every time you turn or touch the fish it is attended with expense; if a vessel requires a cargo of fish at a detached station she has to go for it in ballast, which will deprive the company of the advantage they would derive from the cheap freight that a vessel would charge if she got a cargo ready to ship where she had just landed one; instead of having to put in a cargo of ballast to get to the Station, then taking it out, and taking in the fish. The North Sea Fishermen understand the heavy expense attendant on removing a cargo so well, that they take their fish up to London Bridge, a distance of sixty miles, sooner than discharge it at Ramsgate, and send it up by steamer. When fishing in the North Sea, there is a large fast sailing tender with the fleet which carries up the partial cargo of different boats, but if one boat gets a cargo she carries it up to Billingsgate herself, and never breaks bulk until it is delivered. Again in a cargo of fish there is a good deal of broken fish, which the poor of a town would willingly buy at
Curing Herrings &c
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as high a rate as the cadgers or hawkers will give for the best fish; in a detached station the broken fish will be unsaleable. If a fishing company form their stations in such positions as to leave themselves dependent on hawkers or cadgers, for the sale of their fresh fish, they will find themselves continually plundered and humbugged by these fellows ; the population of the district deprived of the benefit of cheap food, and the hawkers and cadgers the only parties benefited by the exertions of the company. They will also afford the company's servants numerous opportunities of studying the practice of the cheap law courts in the West of Ireland.
I think it will be useful for the information of persons at all connected with the Fisheries to read the instructions of Sir thomas dick lauder, Bart., for the Curing of Fish. I take the following extracts from his work, relative to Curing Herrings, and round fish in pickle, such as Cod, Ling, Hake. I may here remark, that in cleaning and splitting those fish they should be cut down the back of the head, running the knife down the line of the back along the dorsal fin, cutting close along the back bone down to the tail, the fish then opens, the interior of the stomach being the centre of the fish
"If Fish-Curers have the desire, they ought to have, to "compel the men who fish for them to handle the Herrings "with proper care from the time of their capture to that of "their delivery, they should certainly do their best to set "them a good example, by seeing that every thing is done "in their own department strictly as it should be. If they "leave their Herrings after delivery in the curing boxes, ex-"posed to the sun or rain, it is not very likely that they will "have much influence in persuading the fishermen to shake
"the Herrings out of their nets as they are hauling them, or "to take any other necessary precaution for their preserva "tion, seeing that all such care would be thrown away if the "Fish-Curer should thus neglect the Herrings after he has "received them. It is the Fish-Curer's business, therefore "to see that the receiving boxes and tubs have proper awnings "over them, and likewise that the barrels, when packed, are "properly covered and protected from the sun and rain; and "much of the good or bad character of the British cured Her "rings will depend on the attention which may be paid by "curers to these injunctions, for the neglect of them may and "probably will give an incurable taint to the fish. The "sooner salt is applied to the Herrings the better, as it se-"cures the adhesion of the scales, so important to the after "appearance of the fish. For this purpose, salt should be "sprinkled over them as they are emptied in successive por-"tions from the Cran measure into the receiving or gutting "box. All Herrings should be gutted, cured, and packed, "on the day they are caught. If this cannot be accom-"plished, they ought not to be cured as gutted herrings. "They may, however, be cured as ungutted herrings, or "made into red herrings."
"Grutting, and packing also, should commence immediately "after the first cran is delivered ; but this practice is too "much neglected, particularly on days when the fishing has "been partial, or when , the state of the tide may have oc- "casioned an irregular delivery. Although a number of Gut- "ters are in attendance, they do not begin until such a "quantity of fish is delivered as will give constant employ "ment to all. Thus unnecessary delay, exposure, and de-
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"terioration of the fish takes place; all which might be "obviated on such days, and the parties satisfied, by dividing "the payment, for the whole number of barrels gutted and "packed, equally among all. A most important matter is, "to see that the Herrings are properly pickled and assorted "into Maties, Full-fish, and Spent-fish; and this should be "done as the gutting goes on, by having baskets or tubs for "each particular sort; and to prevent all after mistake, the "barrels into which these several sorts of fish are separately "packed, should be immediately and severally, marked by "means of a marking iron, with respective letters, M. ----, "F______, or S______.
"Great care should be taken by Gutters and packers to "remove all fish which have lost their heads, or which have "been broken, bruised, or torn in the bellies, so that they "may be packed separately.
"Bad gutting, and tearing the bellies of the fish, often "arises from the knives being blunt. To prevent this, the "gutting knives should be collected, and delivered to one of "the Coopers every evening, who should have the particular "duty of seeing them all carefully sharpened on a smooth "stone, and returned to the Gutters in the morning. Due "attention to this will be likely to produce neater gutting; "the bones will not present that ragged appearance which so "often disfigures them. Whether the fish are gutted for "continental sale or for exportation out of Europe, the orifice "left at the top of the belly of the fish should be as small as "possible, and particular attention should be paid that the "breast be not lacerated or torn down, so as to leave the "bones exposed. The incision with the knife should be made "in the throat quite down to the back-bone, and the knife "turned round with the hand, and drawn upwards under the "breast-fins, and not downwards along the belly of the fish. "otherwise the orifice will be made to large and the roe or "melt will be exposed,
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"The fish must be cleared, not only of the gut, but of the "liver, stomach, and gills, which last, being full of blood, is "known to taint the fish in a short time after it is killed ; and "the incision of the knife should be made down to the back-"bone, so as to allow the blood to flow freely from the "great blood-vessel of the fish, which will tend much to the "after preservation of the Herring.
"In order to understand the Dutch manner of gutting "Herrings, we must suppose that the fish is held in the hollow "of the left hand, with its belly uppermost, and the head and "shoulders projecting about an inch before the forefinger and "thumb; that the gutting knife is held in the right hand, "with the forefinger and thumb grasping the blade to within "an inch or so of the point; let the knife then be plunged "into the throat of the fish and the side next the right hand, "thrust down so as to touch the back-bone, and so forced "through to the other side, with the point a little projecting "there from, and let the forefinger then be turned over the "head of the fish, and placed under the point of the knife, and "the flat part of the thumb laid on the breast-fins or gip of the "fish, and pressed on the broad part of the knife ; the entrails "are then to be gently started, the gut and gip seized be-"tween the knuckles of the fore and middle-fingers, and the "sudden pull given, by which means the crown-gut, anato-"mically called the Pyloric appendages, will be left hanging "from the body of the fish, while the gills, fore-fins, heart, "liver, &c., will fall into the hollow of the hand. This is "what is understood to be the mode of gutting practised by "the Dutch, in which it is necessary to observe that only "one pull is required to bring away every thing that they con "sider to be necessary, when the operation has been performed "in a proper manner. In the British method the only differ-"ence is, that a second, and sometimes even a third and "fourth pull are necessary, because the whole of the intestines,
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"including the crown-gut, are extracted. It will thus be "found, that the breast or belly of the fish is most frequently "lacerated in the act of removing these parts of the entrails, "owing to the gutters making the pull downwards towards the "tail of the fish, instead of making it upwards towards the "head. Curers should therefore give the most particular "instructions to their gutters to make the pull upwards, and "not downwards, so as to leave the orifice as small as "possible, and to prevent the breast of the fish from being torn. "That mode of gutting by which the crown-gut is left at- "tached, is peculiarly well adapted for the continental mar-"ket, where it is believed that the crown-gut has a powerful "influence in improving the flavour of the fish, and where the "appearance of the Herrings is held to be greatly injured "when it has been by chance removed."
"The packing of fish should be proceeded with as expe-"ditiously as the gutting, and in fact both operations should "be carried on at the same time, the usual proportion of per-"sons employed being two in gutting and one in packing. "The moment the Herrings are gutted, the curing process "should begin. The proportion of salt to be used must vary "according to the season of the year and the nature of the " fish as well as the market for which it may be destined. "The Dutch use one barrel of small Spanish or Portuguese "sale for sprinkling eleven barrels of Herrings, in order that "they may be more conveniently handled, and one barrel of "great salt for packing seven and a half, or eight barrels of "Herrings for the European market; and if this quantity "should be found rather small, an additional plateful of salt "is introduced into the middle of the cask to supply the de-
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"ficiency. The calculation for each barrel of Herrings may "be about five-sixteenths of a barrel of coarse Spanish salt. "It must be observed, however, that whilst the Dutch mode "of cure may produce a perishable article of luxury for the "table, it is not capable of producing that imperishable ar-"ticle of commerce required by British and continental mer-"chants. But the parties employed in the cure must be the "best judges of the quantity of salt to be used for the differ-"ent markets for which the Herrings may be intended. It "is, moreover, difficult to lay down any well-defined rule as "to this point, from the circumstance, that there are several "qualities and sizes of Liverpool fishing salt, which are of "different degrees of strength. Many curers use only one "kind, whilst others use a mixture, and very frequently both "Lisbon and Liverpool salt are jointly used for curing the "Herrings of the same barrel. Thus the quantity of salt re-"quired for fish free from glut, and early salted under cover, "would be quite insufficient for fish mixed with glut, and "delivered in the afternoon of a sultry or wet day. It must "be remembered, however, that the use of Spanish or Por-"tuguese salt would produce a much better cured article than "is produced by Liverpool salt. The Herrings are then car-"ried to the rousing-tubs, where they receive the first part of "the cure, called rousing or rolling - that is, working them "well to and fro among salt. In performing this operation, "the Packers should mix a proper quantity of salt among the "fish as they are emptied into the rousing-tubs, and the Her-"rings should be turned over continually, until a pro- "per proportion shall have adhered to each. When this has "been done, a small quantity of salt should be scattered in the "bottom of each barrel, and the Packer should begin by "laying the Herrings into the barrel in regular tiers, each "tier being composed of rows laid across the barrel, taking "care to keep the heads of the Herrings at each end of each
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row, close to the inside of the staves of the barrel, with their "tails inwards, and making up the deficiency in the middle of "each row by laying Herrings in the same line. Care should "be taken, to scatter salt on the heads. The Head Herrings "should then be placed. These are laid across the heads of "the Herrings already forming the tier, and these Herrings "should also receive a sprinkling of salt, which should like-"wise foe thrown into the centre of the tier. The second "tier must be packed in the same way, taking care that the "Herrings shall be placed directly across those of the first, "and so on alternately, the Herrings of each successive tier "crossing those of that below it. A proportion of salt should "be distributed over each tier, St. Ube's or Lisbon salt being "always preferred for this purpose. When the barrel is "completed, a little additional salt should be put on the top "tier. Herrings intended for the Continent should be packed "on their backs ; but for the Irish market they are preferred "when packed flat, or more on their sides. The fish in each "barrel should be all of the same kind and quality through "out. The nefarious practice of packing inferior Herrings "in the middle of the barrel, and superior Herrings at the top "is always discovered, sooner or later, to the confusion and "loss of character of the curer. The barrels should be filled "above the chime of the cask, in which state they are allowed "to stand till the following day, or even longer, when by the "pining or shrinking of the Herrings from the effects of salt, "they fall down so much in the barrel that it requires to be "filled up. The moment of the barrels are packed the should "be properly covered over, to prevent the sun's rays or rain "penetrating the fish. All vessels which go to the cure on open "beaches or shores should be provided with old sails, or some "other such covering, to protect the fish from sun and "rain; for if spread on the beach without any such protect-"tion, they will infallibly be spoiled.
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"It is the duty of the cooper, to see that all his barrels are "properly made, and of legal size. It is of the greatest im- "portance that he should ascertain whether they are suffi-"ciently tight for containing the original pickle, because "there is no after remedy for the evil effects produced in the "fish by its escape. Barrels should be constructed of well "seasoned wood, and made tight in the bottoms, and seams "and croze, by introducing the broad-leaved water, plant "called the sedge or flag, which would tend to secure the "original pickle under all circumstances. During the period, "of the curing, the cooper's first employment in the morning "should be to examine every barrel packed on the pervious "day, in order to discover if any of them have lost the pickle, "so that they may have all such barrels immediately re- "packed, salted, and pickled. A very common practice is to "pour pickle repeatedly into barrels of the previous day's "packing, which have thus run dry, without having, in the "first place, secured the leak; and then afterwards to use the "Herrings of such dried barrels for filling up such barrels of "Herrings as are well cured and tight. This is a practical "which should never be allowed, as the distribution of these "dry, and consequently bad Herrings amongst the Herrings "of a number of otherwise well cured barrels, has a tendency "to destroy the whole". "As already stated, the cooper in charge should see that the "Gutters are furnished every morning with sharp knives. "He should be careful to strew salt among the Herrings "they are turned into the gutting boxes-give a general but "strict attention to the Gutters, in order to insure that they
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"do their work properly-see that the Herrings are properly "sorted, and that all the broken and injured fish are removed "-take care that the fish are sufficiently and effectually "roused, Then he should see that every barrel is seasoned "with water, and the hoops properly driven before they are "given to the Packers. He should likewise keep his eyes "over the Packers, to see that the tiers of Herrings are re-"gularly laid and salted, and that a cover is placed on every "barrel immediately after it has been completely packed. "The cooper should write with red keel or black coal the "name of the Packer on the bottom or quarter of each bar-"rel as it is delivered, together with the date of packing, and "the letter M, F, or S, for Mixed, Full, or Spent fish, as the "case may be. Where this excellent regulation is practised, "is is found to be a check to bad or imperfect selection, as "well as to bad gutting and irregular salting; and it prevents "the different descriptions of Herrings from being packed up "together, when the barrels are unheaded in order to be filled "up, or for being bung packed.
"After the Herrings have been allowed one, two, or, at "most three clays to pine, the barrels should be filled up "with Herrings of the same date as to capture and cure, and "of the same description as those which they contain, care "being taken not to pour off much pickle, or unduly to press "the fish. The barrels should then be healed up and tight-"ened in the hoops, and laid on their sides, and this always "under cover, so as to be shaded from the sun's rays, which "are seriously injurious to the fish; and they should be rolled "half over every second or third day, until they are bung "packed, which part of the process of cure should be per- "formed within fifteen days from the date of capture of "the Herrings; and not sooner that that period if it be the "object of the curer to obtain the Official Brand of the Board "of British Fisheries at bung packing. When the pickle
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"has been sufficiently poured off, a handful of salt, if required, "should be thrown round the insides of the barrels, and the "Herrings should be pressed close to the insides of the casks, "and additional fish, of the same description and date of cure, "should be packed until the barrel is properly filled, after "which it should be flagged, headed, blown, and tightened; "and the curing marks should be scratched on the side. The "barrel may then have its pickle poured in, and be finally "bunged up."
"this is a mode of curing which produces a valuable article of "merchandize, very useful in house hold economy, and its wider "extension becomes a most desirable object in promoting the "interests of the British Fisheries. The most approved mode "of conducting this description of cure is as follows :- "The fish having been properly split, scrubbed, and washed, "should be salted in large tubs, or square boxes, capable of re-"taining the pickle, and properly covered from the sun and "rain. After being forty-eight hours in salt, they may be "washed in clean fresh water, and the skin of each fish must be "well scrubbed with a small heather scrubber, or a hard brush, "which is sometimes used for the purpose. Having been per-"fectly cleared of slime, and well rinsed in cold fresh water, "they are laid in a heap and allowed to drip, and are then re-"packed into barrels with clean salt. In performing this pro-"cess, the skin is kept next to the bottom of the barrel, and "they are regularly packed up with a proper quantity of salt on
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"each layer, keeping them as flat as possible, and close to the "sides of the barrel. The fish should be collected, and as- "sorted into three or four sizes, and each size should be "packed in different barrels. "If the fish have been firmly packed, and the barrels allowed "to stand on end one night properly covered before being "tightened, it will not be necessary to jump upon them. The "uppermost or top fish in the barrel is then placed with the "skin upwards, and salt is strewed on it. The bar- "rels must then be flagged and tightened - laid down - "tiered bored on the side,---and filled up with pickle, which "should always be made from clean salt, and should be skim- "med when necessary, as any impurity in the pickle injures "the whiteness of the fish. "The number and kind of fish contained in each barrel must "then be scratched on the side, with the date of repacking, and "if the casks and fish are found on inspection to be in all res- "pects agreeable to law, and to the Board's regulations, the "barrels may then be officially branded.
"By order of the Honorable the Commissioners,
"THOS. DICK LAUDER,
"Secretary Board of Fisheries."
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